Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced early on April 8 that a two-week ceasefire had been agreed between the United States and Iran. Delegates from both sides are expected to attend further talks in Islamabad on Friday.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Pakistan hosted talks with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, in which the four countries called for an end to hostilities in the Gulf. The meeting established the quartet as the primary negotiating channel between Tehran and Washington, and may signal the beginning of a new regional order designed to curb Israeli and Iranian dominance after the war.
Israel and Iran are both regionally isolated. Saudi Arabia has long refused to normalise ties with Israel without a Palestinian state, a prospect ruled out by the Israeli parliament in a 2024 vote. Turkey halted its relationship with Israel in 2024 over Gaza, while Israel-Qatar relations soured after an Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Doha in September 2025. Iran has lost key allies: China has distanced itself, Qatar’s relationship ended after an Iranian missile strike on Ras Laffan, and the 2023 China-brokered detente with Saudi Arabia collapsed after attacks on Saudi energy facilities.
The four countries share political and economic ties with the US and sit on Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, established in 2026 to address global conflicts and Gaza’s reconstruction. Pakistan brings nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia has the world’s second-largest oil reserves, Egypt controls the Suez Canal, and Turkey is a NATO member. With a combined population of 500 million, they represent the most influential Muslim-majority nations.
Yet the grouping is not a natural alliance. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have had a “difficult marriage”, though ties improved under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Turkey’s relations with Egypt deteriorated after the 2013 ousting of Mohammed Morsi, and tensions have also surfaced between Ankara and Riyadh. Nevertheless, the quartet now appears united in seeking regional stability.
